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The Killing of Tyre Nichols; Memphis Releases Deadly Police Beating Video; Protests Erupt in Many Parts of the United States; Deadly Attack in Jerusalem; Israeli Police: Shooting Near Synagogue Leaves Seven Dead; Record Rainfall in New Zealand; Russia is Making a New Effort to Break Through Ukrainian Defenses; Ukraine Will Receive a Bigger Batch of Tanks from Poland. Aired 3-3:30a ET
Aired January 28, 2023 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNNI CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome to our news all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes, appreciate your company, coming up from CNN Newsroom.
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Shock, outrage and protests across the U.S. after surveillance video shows how Memphis police officers brutally beat a 29-year-old man who later died from his injuries. Police in Israel are calling it one of the worst terror attacks in years after a gunman open fired near a synagogue. We'll have a live report from Jerusalem. And historic rainfall in New Zealand forces evacuations and claims the lives of at least three people.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with Michael Holmes.
HOLMES: Early [ph] released video shows Memphis police fatally beating Tyre Nichols three weeks ago and there are concerns the brutal nature of the footage could lead to unrest. So far though, the protests we've seen across the country have been peaceful. In Memphis, for example, protesters marched on to a major interstate bridge across the Mississippi river, bringing traffic to a standstill for a time. No arrests were reported.
Tyre Nichols died three days after the violent encounter with police. He was just 29 years old. His funeral has been set for next Wednesday. All five officers have been fired. And on Thursday, they were charged with second-degree murder, kidnapping and other offenses. The first arraignments are set for next month.
Now, we want to play some of those newly-released videos. They are, obviously, difficult and disturbing to watch. There's a lot of foul language as well. We do not see Nichols being pulled over for the alleged reckless driving. But, the first clip is from an officer arriving at the scene after he is pulled over. From there, the situation deteriorates rapidly. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEMPHIS POLICE OFFICER: Get the fuck out. Get the fuck out.
TYRE NICHOLS, THE VICTIM: I didn't do anything.
MEMPHIS POLICE OFFICER: To the ground.
NICHOLS: All right. All right. All right. I'm on the ground.
MEMPHIS POLICE OFFICER: Down. Get down.
MEMPHIS POLICE OFFICER: Get on the ground. Now.
NICHOLS: All right. Okay.
MEMPHIS POLICE OFFICER: (INAUDIBLE)
NICHOLS: You guys are really doing a lot right now. (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Nichols managed to run away but was caught nearby a short time later. Now, in this next clip, Nichols cries out for his mother while he is being beaten. Again, disturbing to watch.
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NICHOLS: Hey!
MEMPHIS POLICE OFFICER: Give me your hands. Give me your hands.
NICHOLS: (INAUDIBLE)
MEMPHIS POLICE OFFICER: Watch out. Watch out.
MEMPHIS POLICE OFFICER: On your knees.
NICHOLS: Mom!
MEMPHIS POLICE OFFICER: Give me your hands.
NICHOLS: Mom!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: A place surveillance camera on a light pole captured the clearest images of the officers striking Nichols. The videos appears to show Nichols was hit, kicked and punched at least nine times in less than four minutes. No one appeared to rend aid afterwards and an ambulance wouldn't arrive for nearly 30 minutes. Now earlier, an attorney representing Nichols' family spoke to CNN about how the family is feeling now the video has been made public.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANTONIO ROMANUCCI, ATTORNEY FOR TYRE NICHOLS' FAMILY: We know that the accountability and transparency of this video was so important and that they are very grateful for it. Of course, they lost a son. They lost someone that they love very much. But they are grateful that the video came out, so now the whole world knows what happened. That he was defenseless. That he was hopeless. That we did not exaggerate or overestimate anything that was in that video whatsoever.
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HOLMES: Two Sheriff's Deputies are now on leave and under investigation in the wake of Tyre Nichols' death. The Sheriff of Shelby County, which includes the City of Memphis said he made that decision after watching the video of the deputies at the scene of the killing. CNN's Shimon Prokupecz with the latest.
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SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN'S SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Continued fallout here from this incident, from this horrific beating. After the video was made public, the Sheriff here in Shelby County put out a statement saying that he learned that two of his deputies were on scene that night. And as a result of that, because of this video becoming public, he has placed those deputies on leave. So, it's two Sheriff's Deputies that are now on leave and of course, you know, we are learning more tonight about the Scorpion Unit, the unit, the team that these officers were part of.
The family calling for them to be disbanded while the Mayor and the Police Department here saying that that unit, right now, is not operating in this city.
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They have sort of suspended their operations while they continue their investigation. But they're not outright going to say right at this point that they're going to disband this unit. They are blaming the problems on these officers and not on the unit.
And the other thing throughout all this, of course, and watching this video, are the EMT, the medics that were on scene and how long it took for them to offer Tyre Nichols any kind of help. For minutes and minutes, he had laid there bleeding after being brutally beaten. The questions, of course, about those EMTs and the other officers who were on scene and the continued investigation where it appears that there is just so much more to come.
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HOLMES: Shimon Prokupecz there. Now, Don Lemon spoke to Tyre Nichols' mother, who you can hear him screaming out for in that harrowing video. Here's what she said about the injuries her son sustained.
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ROWVAUGHN WELLS, TYRE NICHOLS' MOTHER: They had beat him to a pulp. He had bruises all over him. His head was swollen like a watermelon. His neck was busting because of the swelling. They broke his neck. My son's nails look like an 's.' They actually just beat the crap out of him. So when I saw that, I knew my son was gone. Even if he did live, he would have been a vegetable.
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HOLMES: Now, during a phone call with Tyre Nichols' family, U.S. President Joe Biden said he was outraged by the footage. He also called it a painful reminder of the fear and trauma people of color experience every day in America. Here's President Biden speaking with reporters right after that call.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I was really pleased that she called for peaceful protests. No violence. No movement at all. And so, I spoke with her about, I don't know, 10 to 15 minutes and (INAUDIBLE)
UNKNOWN: Are you going to visit (INAUDIBLE)?
BIDEN: Well, I am. I'm obviously very concerned about it. But I think she has made a very strong plea.
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HOLMES: Protests erupted around the U.S. after authorities released that video of the deadly police beating from coast to coast. People marched to condemn police violence and demand justice for Tyre Nichols. Most of the protests were peaceful, including this one in New York. However, a few arrests were reported along with minor clashes with police.
The funeral for Tyre Nichols, as we said, is set for Wednesday at a Memphis church. The Senior Pastor at that church spoke with CNN'S Don Lemon about how the community is handling this very difficult time.
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REVEREND DR. J. LAWRENCE TURNER, SENIOR PASTOR OF MISSISSIPPI BOULEVARD CHRISTIAN CHURCH: This has been a continued experience, all this week in meetings not just with city officials but also with people on the ground who are activists, leaders of this community and other clergy wanting to know how we best navigate our community through this. And so, as we come to this moment tonight and witness what was on that video and prepare for the home going celebration, we really want to lean into the healing ministry of the church, the faith community.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: You have been -- if I can just be really candid, you know, we've been talking about humanity and inhumanity. And you believe that some of these interviews and bringing the cameras here and allowing people to talk, that it is allowing them to be human? Is that what -- is that -- am I getting that right? TURNER: Yes. Very rarely do we see on television, persons express their emotions. And there are persons who were sitting at home and watching these interviews, who need to know it is okay to feel what they're feeling, to express these things. And so, as I've watched interviews throughout the day, well, some people have cried from Tyre Nichols' parents up to even some of other clergy and city officials who have interviewed on television. I believe it's been helpful to let people know in this moment not to feel okay. But we're going to work through this together.
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HOLMES: The Reverend J. Lawrence Turner there, speaking there with Don Lemon.
Israeli police say at least seven people were killed, three wounded on Friday in a shooting near a Jerusalem synagogue. According to authorities, a 21-year-old gunman shot people in close range with a pistol, later fleeing the scene but being killed in a shootout with police not far away. The attack happened hours after Israel launched strikes on Gaza in response to militant rocket fire and a day after Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians during a raid in the West Bank city of Jenin.
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It also comes as the U.S. Secretary of State is preparing to visit Israel and the West Bank. Let's get more now from journalist Elliott Gotkine in Jerusalem, the shock obviously about what happened, have we learned anything more about the gunman?
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Michael, we know he's a 21-year-old man from East Jerusalem. We also know that the attack took place at 8:15 pm. So just after evening prayers for the Jewish Sabbat had ended. I think you've outlined the main details there as to what happened subsequently. We just -- I'll say, earlier, just received a statement from the Israeli police saying that in the wake of the attack and as part of their investigations, they've arrested 42 people including from the attacker's immediate family, from his home, from the surroundings as well. So, 42 arrests have been made.
In terms of any additional response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put out a statement last night saying that there would be -- that a situational assessment had be held and that they would get more details about Israel's response at a meeting of the cabinet after the Sabbat has ended. So, that is about 7.5 hours time or so, and that also imploring Israelis not to take the law into their own hands, saying that Israel has an army, a police force, security forces, who will act on the orders of the cabinet.
Now, you know too that there were seven people killed. There were also three people injured. There was a 15-year-old boy who is recuperating in hospital. He's in a moderate condition. A 24-year-old man is in induced coma; he is in a stable and serious condition. And there is a 60-year-old woman who is in a moderate condition as well. So, that is the current situation in the wake of that attack. The worst attack, I should say, in Jerusalem in a number of years, Michael.
HOLMES: Yeah, indeed. I mean, last hour [ph] interestingly, you made the point that this is Israel's most right-wing government ever and campaigned on security issues. How much pressure then is there on Benjamin Netanyahu, what he might do, what the militant groups might do since there has been another sadly familiar cycle of violence.
GOTKINE: That's right, Michael -- look, there's a huge amount of pressure on this government. It's his first big test really to see if it will make good on its word, on its promise to voters to keep a lid on attacks such as the one that we saw last night. We've heard from the U.S. urging de-escalation. We should also -- I should also say that we heard of a call between President Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which President Biden said -- this is the readout from the call -- the President made clear that this was an attack against the civilized world. The President stressed the ironclad U.S. commitment to Israel's security and agreed his team would remain in constant touch with their Israeli counterparts.
As I said, this includes an urge to ensure the tensions which are sky- high already, are somewhat de-escalated. But I think, given the situation where we are right now and given, as you say, the pressure of this government to act and to show that it is good for its word and that it is better than the previous government at keeping a lid on attacks such as this, I think it's inevitable that there will be a significant response. And that any -- hopes of any de-escalation from where we were before last night are likely to fall on deaf ear. Michael?
HOLMES: Yeah. It's always the cycle. Elliott Gotkine, appreciate it. Thanks so much.
Now, the stockpiles of western tanks promised to Ukraine keeps getting bigger. Still ahead, Poland pledges to send its domestically-made tanks, just as fighting heats up in Eastern Ukraine. We will have a live report.
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Ukraine will receive a bigger batch of tanks from Poland than Warsaw initially promised this week. Poland now says it will send 60 more tanks, including the PT-91s developed at home. That is on top of other types of tanks that Poland and other western allies have already promised. Meanwhile, Kyiv says Russia is making a new effort to break through Ukrainian defenses in the east with stepped up artillery and infantry attacks. Clare Sebastian is keeping an eye on those and other developments. She joins me live from London. Let's start in the east. What are we seeing there in terms of Russian tactics and strategy, Clare?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Michael, we're seeing a couple of key hotspots right now up near the town of Bakhmut, which Russia has of course been trying to take for several months. We're seeing more shelling. Obviously, they've taken the smaller town on the outskirts of Soledar in the past week. We are now seeing shelling around the town of Chasiv Yar. The local Ukrainian governor reports that two people were killed there on Friday, five wounded.
And then further south, there is another hot spot, the town of Vuhledar which is just at the southwest of the town of Donetsk, just outside the Russian controlled territory, also under what Ukrainian local governor calls permanent shelling. Two people also killed there on Friday. According to him, the Ukrainian military is saying that up in the Bakhmut direction, Wagner, that private military company, continues to be active. Well, down to the south, in the Vuhledar direction, they're seeing sort of Russian infantry conscripts even taking part in the fighting there. But take a listen, Michael, to what President Zelenskyy had to say about the type of battle that they are seeing there.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (interpreted): The situation on the front line, importantly in the Donetsk region near Bakhmut and Vuhledar, continues to remain extremely acute. The occupiers are not destroying our positions, they are deliberately and methodically destroying these towns and villages around them with artillery, airstrikes, missiles. The Russian army has no shortage of legal means and can only be stopped by force.
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SEBASTIAN: So, this continues to be a brutal infantry war in the east, Michael. I think this new strategy of taking smaller towns, or trying to take smaller towns speaks to the fact that Russia has been unable for many months to take over key populations, entities [ph] like Bakhmut. But I think this -- you know, this is going to continue to be a key area of fighting. The Donbas region is the key strategic goal, taking over the whole of that region the key strategic goal for Russia in this war.
HOLMES: Yeah. Yeah. When it comes to the military, i.e., the tanks and so on, what's the likely timetable for getting them into the fight, especially with that suspected Russian [INAUDIBLE], it might only be a matter of few weeks away.
SEBASTIAN: Yeah. Time is not on Ukraine's side. I think you can -- you see as they've made progress, of course big progress in the last week or so, getting those pledges particularly of tanks from the west that you see them now making the point that it has to be as quick as possible. And it's clear that work is underway, intensive work is underway to try to make that happen. The UK and Germany have said that the end of March is really their goal to get those Challenger tanks from the UK and the Leopard 2 tanks from Germany into Ukraine.
We know that just on Friday, the first contingent of Ukrainian soldiers to train on those lighter combat vehicles, the Marder combat vehicles, started in Germany. As to whether that's going to be quick enough, we just don't know, Michael. The top official in the Ukrainian military said, in December, that he expects a new Russian offensive to take place any time between January and March. So, it might not be in time. Meanwhile, those U.S. Abrams tanks could take, in the words of the U.S. -- the White House national security spokesman, many months. So, it's a race against time right now.
HOLMES: All right, Clare, appreciate the update there. Clare Sebastian in London for us.
Now, back to our top story and fatal police beating of Tyre Nichols. Many people have drawn comparisons between this incident and the police beating of Rodney King some 30 years ago. Well, King's daughter Lora is Head of the Rodney King Foundation. She joins me now from Los Angeles and really appreciate you making the time. Your reaction, I mean this was horrible to say for everyone, but I imagine more so for your family.
LORA KING, DAUGHTER OF RODNEY KING, POLICE BRUTALITY VICTIM: Yes, of course. It's indescribable. It really is. It is sickening. It's very sickening. It's a repetitive thing. And this case, it's like horrific. You know, I haven't been well. I shouldn't have watched it. But I did and I'm just now -- it just doesn't sit well with me at all.
HOLMES: You said earlier that the only difference between this incident and what happened to your father, Rodney King, is hashtags and a clear camera, which I found fascinating. Just explain a little more about what you meant by that.
KING: Absolutely. You know, 30-plus years ago, we didn't have social media and we didn't have videotapes. You know, George Holiday filmed that using, testing his new videotape out. So it is like, we've come so long -- we've come so far but yet, we are still here. You know, it's very sickening. Watching that tape and watching that man cry for his mom, it really did something to me.
Watching those officers beat him while he was handcuffed, that's indescribable. They were literally kicking him in the face and tazing him. It's like, telling -- you know, I thought from the first initial act when they pulled him over, I felt like they handled that not proper. They didn't handle that in the right way. As soon as they opened the door, they were cussing at him and it was crazy. Like, I was even fearful. When they first opened that door, their body language and tone other voice, and the choice of words that they were using, I'll be honest with you, I would've ran too. Because the tone and their voice didn't sound like it was going to be right.
HOLMES: Yeah, it was aggressive...
KING: I'll tell you the truth.
HOLMES: ... from the very beginning.
KING: Very. Very.
HOLMES: It's interesting you talk about the video tape with your father's case because those cops who were beating Rodney King were probably horrified to find out they've been videoed. This was all videoed and it was the police video. They were wearing the cameras and they still did it. So, what has changed?
KING: Right. And that's even more -- that's the even more sickening part. I'm so glad you brought that up. To me, that lets me know, again, the same with my dad's video. This is normal behavior. There were so comfortable doing that, that this is not their first go round. And then they were making jokes, to a certain extent, at least that's what I felt -- they make joke references about him. "Oh, he must've been on something. He must've been on something."
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Basically, they were referencing because he was like trying to get away, trying to, you know, when he did run -- but that's because he knew he was going to die.
HOLMES: Yeah.
KING: Imagine that. Imagine being pulled over. Most people think -- most African-American people, women and men, think that they're going to be murdered, and a lot of the times that is the case. You know, it's like sick.
HOLMES: I wanted to ask you, you're the Executive Director of the Rodney King Foundation. What briefly is your mission and what do you think you've been able to achieve over the decades?
KING: I think living in a world, now that we have so much interracial couples, interracial families, are people that don't look like African-Americans that are fed up, that back me up with love. I like to think my mission is, if we can look at the world the way Stevie Wonder looks at the world, imagine if we loved or operated and not being able to see each other, but just operating out of place, you know, where we are coming from, from our hears and our intent, imagine.
And I'm very hopeful. I feel like one day we will all have a domino effect on the world. We can create change from around the world. So this is not just a United States thing. So I feel like we can eventually have an effect on the world to show other people, it's possible to get along. But, you know, again, one of the main missions is proposing the question that my father asked is, "Can we get along? And also, can we be equal?" And in this case, these were black officers. So it's very sickening to me. It's very sickening. But, another thing is, just having these uncomfortable conversations with each other, so that we can understand that we are alike more than we are not alike. But, you know...
HOLMES: Yeah.
KING: I also think, one of my main things is, to create some kind of program to where officers are definitely mentally evaluated because, obviously, if you can beat a man like that...
HOLMES: Right.
KING: ...let alone, if you can beat a man to death, something is mentally not right. You're not stable. So, I feel like -- I'm sorry.
HOLMES: No, that's fine. It's a very powerful message. My problem is, we're at the end of the show, we are running right out of time. Lora King...
KING: Sure.
HOLMES: I really appreciate you making the time and sharing that message. Thanks so much.
KING: Sure, thank you. Thank you so much for having me. Have a great night.
HOLMES: You too.
KING: Thank you.
HOLMES: And thank you for watching. I'm Michael Holmes, CNN Newsroom continues in about 30 minutes with Kim Brunhuber. Decoded is next.
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